Current Project: Shadows, Inc.
Status: Still working on that backstory!
Well, shoot. This has been one of those days. Not only haven't I been feeling well, but I somehow managed to mess up my calendar and didn't realize until late that today was my day to blog (that sounds better than to say that I also lost track of time and have been thinking it was Monday all day today, I hope). *sigh*
As a reader, I don't generally worry about whether I have a clear mental image of the characters in whatever book I'm reading. Sure, if the author has given a character a distinctive feature or characteristic or a particularly vivid physical description, that may stick with me. But I'll tell you a secret -- even then I probably only have a hazy image of the character in my mind, if I even have that. It's the character's thoughts, emotions, actions and reactions that matter to me -- not what they look like. In fact, if the author spends too much time lovingly describing what a character looks like, I'm likely to be more annoyed than fascinated.
It's a whole different story when it comes to my own writing. Oh, not the long passages of lovingly described physical characteristics (at least I hope I don't do that!). No, I'm finding that I need to know more than just the dry recitation of physical facts -- eye color, hair color, height, weight, etc. I need to be able to picture my characters as three dimensional physical beings. I need to see their faces, know their expressions, just as much as I need to know who they are, where they're from, and what they think and feel.
The simplest way to do this, of course, is to borrow from real life -- either using someone I know or the image of an actor or actress -- for the physical template of a character. The problem there, of course, is that it can sometimes be difficult to separate the real person from the character I'm creating. Or, in the case of an actor/actress, separating my character from character(s) they've portrayed, especially if those characters were especially vivid.
I'm guessing that this need arises because there's so much more that goes on "behind the scenes" than ever makes it into a book, as I'm coming to learn. Writers talk about how much research we do, even when so little of that research makes it directly on the page. And then there are the pages and pages of backstory that we write -- backstory that may only be alluded to in the final story, if at all.
Is all this really necessary? I certainly can't answer that question for anyone else, but for myself I'd have to say yes. The more I know, the more real my characters are to me. And hopefully...eventually...I'll manage to translate that feeling to the page and my characters will become real to my readers as well.
5 comments:
Deb, I agree. The better you know your character, whether it gets on the page in exact words, it needs to be conveyed on the page to make your character multi-faceted. I don't do in-depth character charts, but as I've said before I "stew and brew" and this is where the character starts coming together in my head. Through little snippets of dialogue, scenes with family members or other characters. This is where I learn what makes that character who he/she is. I do a rough sketch of the physical characteristics but I try not to mention them on and on, just the initial meet and maybe add something along the line. I'm not into the long descriptions either. Both for characters of settings.
Interesting post!
I loved your blog, Deb.
I do the same as you and Paty, a brief description and then occasional references to eye color or some specific quality, but it's the heart and soul of a character that I am most interested in reading and writing about. Of course, when someone is in love with someone else, i.e. a romance, some characteristics get mentioned more often because it is these qualities that attract the other character. Wow, did I really say anything at all. I'll try again: in one character's POV, another character's attributes might be mentioned because the POV character loves that about the other person. The long stride, the springy black curls, the deep brown eyes or the tiny waist.
I have no idea if that made sense. Back to work!
I agree with you about the over-descriptions. I find that distracting, both for characters and setting. I agree with what you all have said so far. Personally, I try to match main characters to an actor/actress like you. I think it helps me pick a few defining features to use in the story. All I really care about, as a reader, is hair color, eye color and an approximate body build (lean, muscular, stocky, etc). That's as far as my brain will visualize anyway.
Debbie, I'm like you in that I need to know this stuff about my characters, but not all of it will find its way into the book. I think it's more important to convey how a character looks than what the character looks like, if that makes since. Ex: She wears six-inch heals because looking up at people all the time hurts her neck. This is more of a how than a what. Describing her shoes does nothing, but how she uses them accomplishes quite a bit in regard to who she is.
Research takes lots of time, but it's such a wonderful way to get to know your subject inside and out. I'm noticing with all the nonfiction writing I've been doing lately how much research never makes it into the article. But I need to know it to get a good understanding of what I'm writing about. And I do it the old fashioned way with a pencil and a notebook, LOL! The act of physically writing my notes imprints it better on my brain.
I'm also in agreement that I want/need to know lots of details about my character, as that will influence how I portray them in the story--without the "list" of physical characteristics.
However, I generally don't use actors/actresses as role models. As others have mentioned, it may be difficult to separate their role from who my characters are. And I don't watch much TV or movies, so I don't know who most actors and actresses are. :) However, I do pull photos out of magazines and such that remind me of my characters. This gives me a visual image but without an already defined role.
Interesting blog!
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